EXILE: Rewrite
by MiniHayden
Summary: It's back - rewritten! Danny tells his parents his secret. But, the question is, will they accept him? Rated T, once again, for my insane paranoia.
1. Dinner

**Me: Hey, everyone! It's been of a bit of a long-time-no-see/read for my DP readers, hasn't it?**

**Danny: Yeah, I doubt many Phans are anime fans.**

**Me: Although I have seen a few DP writers write for some anime stuff… *clears throat* anyway, while I was on my awesome _A New Way to Bleed_ writing adventures, I realised how poorly written my DP fics are. So, I'm re-writing them!**

**Danny: Yay!**

**Me: There will be one big difference, though. The new version of _Shadow Ink_ will be linked with this fic, but not exactly in a sequel-y style way. I'll explain in the next chapter. **

**Danny: But for now, enjoy this chapter!**

_**EXILE, Chapter 1, Dinner**_

"You're goin' down, ghost scum!" My father's war cry rang through the night, loud and apparent as I heard the sound of an ecto-foamer charging up.

I took a few more steps backward into the alley, my boots almost slipping on the wet ground. Crouching down low, I tried to fit myself under a collapsed fire escape. My feet stuck out slightly and I sighed when I realised this wasn't really helping. Why did ghosts have to glow anyway? Where did all this light come from?

Turning intangible or invisible wouldn't have helped right now – their trackers and sensors made sure of that, and if I changed back their radar would sense the decrease in ghost energy. This was basically like most nights, except this time I had found myself cornered.

Straining my ears, I tried to work out how close my dad was by the sound of his footsteps. His were heavy and obvious, whereas I had no hope in finding Mum. She was probably almost as furtive and silent as I was.

Based on what I could hear, I concluded that the street was empty. Well, from Dad anyway. His shout must have been farther away than I thought. That was logical, as I knew sounds were always amplified at night and I was always mis-calculating things like that. I made a mental note to get better at that sort of thing. Why did they always have to hunt me _after_ the sun went down?

Suddenly, I heard the sound of something drop down nearby and I jumped round to see a stone slide to a halt beside me. I glanced up, squinting into the darkness. Where did that come from?

"I've got you know, Phantom," I recognised my mother's voice instantly, seemingly coming from nowhere at first. Then a pair of crimson red goggles into view, my alarmed reflection showing clear in them, and the next thing I knew was the feeling of a gun - cold, sharp and pressed into the my chest.

The weapon whistled and clicked as it prepared to fire a shot and I yelled, flying up through the rubble just when I began to feel the energy about to pulse out of the ecto-blaster. A net followed as I made my way into the sky and I had to put on an extra burst of speed to stay clear. Mum cried out in frustration.

Another, more primitive shout told me my father had spotted me and I looked down to see him fire blasts of ecto-foam in my direction. But, like usual, each shot fell short as I climbed higher and higher into the air. The sound of an empty gun clattered to the floor as I finally found my chance to get away.

"We'll find you, Phantom, and when we do, we'll destroy you. Molecule by molecule. There'll be nothing left of you when we're finished!" Mum's threat echoed behind me as I sped on, trying to get out of range of their trackers as quickly as possible.

It was a whole half an hour before I deemed it safe to go home and I almost fell asleep as I phased through my bedroom and landed on my bed, my mind only barely registering that I had to change quickly in case my parents' ghost technology was still on.

Yawning, I triggered the transformation and let myself turn back into a human, my eyes shooting open when I felt my heart kick start again and I took my first breath for about six hours. That was always a weird feeling.

My right arm began to throb and my eyes ran over a long, but not very deep gash I had seemed to have acquired during the night's fight. I made my way tiredly into my bathroom and ran the wound under the taps in the sink, wincing slightly as the cold water washed out the dirt that had lodged its way inside. This would be so much easier to do in ghost form, but I still couldn't risk it. Even if the pain was guaranteed to decrease by miles.

I shrugged to myself. It would heal by the morning anyway.

"Danny, dinner!" I heard Mum call from the kitchen. I looked up, confused. How did she get home and cook dinner so quickly?

I groaned inwardly. Maybe she was using that stupid invention again, the one that cooks meat in a few seconds. I walked downstairs after putting on a longer shirt, hoping that my food wouldn't eat me first.

I sauntered into the kitchen to see everyone sitting down at the table already, just starting their meal. Taking an empty seat next to Jazz, I picked up my fork and stared down at my plate unenthusiastically, wondering what was going to be in my stomach today.

Just sausages, some mashed potato and baked beans. And I grabbed a slice of bread from the center of the table. It seemed, from the outside, OK.

I gently nudged one of the sausages with my knife to check that it wasn't 'alive' before eating it, but sticking a fork through it was impossible. It was rock hard and just simply trying to sent pain up my arm.

Great. I fight my parents and now I have to fight my food. Why can't my life be _normal_?

Like I hadn't pondered over that question before.

I felt someone's eyes on me and I looked to see Jazz. Her face was full of concern and she was obviously the first one to notice the faint trace of blood coming through my right sleeve.

I shrugged, nodding my head towards Mum and Dad.

Jazz frowned.

"You know, Danny, you wouldn't believe how close we got to catching a ghost today," my dad spoke up in the middle of a mouthful.

"Oh, really? Who?" I tried my best to act surprised. Well, it wouldn't matter even if I didn't. They say the same thing at dinner every day.

"That putrid piece of ectoplasmic scum, Phantom."

"Huh? That's cool."

"I'm starting to rethink what we would do with him when we actually _do_ catch him," Mum suddenly said, "maybe we should dissect him? I've never really had a close look at a ghost for a long period of time before. I want to know about the structure of a ghost's organs. They don't have a heartbeat, so what's in the place of that? Not to mention what happens when it eats…"

I quietly sat there and choked on my bread.

"Are you going to sedate Phantom?" I heard Jazz ask worriedly, "It would hurt him if you didn't."

Mum laughed, "Sweetie, you know we don't care about that."

I exchanged an anxious glance with my sister.

She carried on, "I have a brand-new set of scalpels down in the lab, now that I think of it. All we really need is some ghost proof restraints to fix onto the table. I'll move the computer down there tomorrow to help records the results… and I can type fast enough, I might also do a transcript of what he says-"

"But you haven't even caught him yet!" Jazz pointed out hurriedly.

"Can we talk about something else_, please_?" I added quickly.

"Son, by now you need to know that this is very important to us." Turning towards me, Dad spoke for the first time in a while. "Catching a ghost would not only be a great achievement for me and your mother, but it would be another step to understanding these ecto-punks properly."

I looked down at my food, trying to think of something to convince them against it, "why can't you just ask Phantom for all the information you want?

My parents fell into hysterics. "Danny, sweetie, why would a ghost like Phantom ever co-operate with humans? I expect he would rather die for a second time than sit down and _talk_," Mum replied.

"And how exactly do you know that?" Jazz raised her eyebrows.

"Everybody knows that ghosts are evil, Jazzerincess," Dad said, "It's a fact. Why else would they try to destroy the town every day?"

I guessed that they had their point. They'd never heard of ghosts like Frostbite, Clockwork or Dora because they had never left the Ghost Zone. In fact, the only reason a ghost left the Zone was _because_ they wanted to destroy the town. _Unless they were Klemper or the Box Ghost_, I mentally corrected myself, _or if they needed a date for the ball_.

"Personally, I don't think that Danny Phantom is evil at all. He does a great job of protecting the town," Jazz winked at me as she crossed her arms.

"That's just a distraction to keep us away from his evil plans and what he's really doing," Dad said dramatically, narrowing his eyes for effect. "He's scheming something right now, I know it!"

"Yeah," I mumbled under my breath, "he's scheming about how to get his fork through his sausage."

"Tomorrow we'll all go out and look for him," he declared loudly, "your mother and I will get the weapons ready now. And remember," Dad eyed me and Jazz "If you see any sign of Phantom, tell us so that we can tear him to shreds- I mean dissect him," he said, looking at Mum.

And without giving us a chance to reply (or bothering to finish their dinner in the heat of the moment), my parents left the room and headed downstairs to the lab.

There was silence for a few more minutes as I sat there eating, half listening to the now buzzing activity down in the lab.

After a while Jazz turned to me, her face set in a deep frown. "I think they're serious this time, Danny. They've got closer and closer to capturing you every day and this time, they might actually do it."

"I know," I groaned, wiping a hand across my face in anxiety. "I just don't know how to stop this. It's not like I can stop being Danny Phantom, just like that. Amity Park _needs_ me."

Jazz appeared to be deep in thought for a moment, staring down into her empty cup. Then she looked up again, right at me. "Maybe you should tell them that you're Danny Phantom. They'll be alright with it, I know."

"What if they're_ not_ alright with it?"

"Come on Danny, we both know it won't come to that. Why would it? They love you. _I_ love you - and I accepted you, didn't I?" she smiled encouragingly and stood up, holding her hand out. "Why don't we do it now to get it over with? I'll come with you if you like, Danny."

"Well…I…Jazz, you see, I don't want-"

The next thing I knew, Jazz had grabbed hold of my arm and we were on our way down the stairs and into the lab, my parents' voices getting closer and closer with each step.

"We'll catch him using this ghost-proof net," it sounded like Mum was going through the plans with Dad, "but we'll take some spares in case either of us misses, like last time. I charged them up with electricity to weaken him once he's inside, so he shouldn't struggle. If it happens that he does, I've put together something here that should hopefully knock him out for about three hours."

The door was open already, so Jazz gently nudged me inside, far milder than she had just been.

Looks like she got her own way with me. Again.

My parents looked around as they heard us come in, "Hi guys. What's wrong?"

Before I could even think about speaking, Jazz said, "Danny's come here to tell you something."

I felt her gaze on me, willing me to continue. But I didn't know how to start.

Where should I start?

Should I just not start at all?

And so, she did in my stead. "About Phantom."

"What about Phantom, son?" Dad asked me, "have you seen him? Do you know where he is?"

"In a way," I replied quietly.

"What do you mean?" my mum spoke this time, confused.

I hesitated again. What if they didn't accept me? What if Jazz was wrong? What if she was actually _wrong_?

What if… they didn't love me in the first place?

No.

I shook my head to myself. Of course they did. They said it every night before I went to bed, before I hung up on the phone, before leaving for school in the mornings.

_Out with it, Fenton_, I forced myself mentally.

"You see…" I began.

"Yes?" my parents looked at me expectantly.

"I'm…I'm…"

"Just get on with it Danny," Jazz whispered to me. "Remember, they _love_ you."

I swallowed nervously, "_I'm_ Danny Phantom."

**Danny: And….. finish**

**Me: I'll try to get the next chapter out ASAP, guys :)**

**Danny: Reviews are also nice.**

**Me: So, bye!**

**Danny: Yeah, see ya!**


	2. EXILE

**Me: Yay! Chapter 2!**

**Danny: Did we update quick enough? Is this OK?**

**Me: Thanks for the follows and to the four awesome people who reviewed! Replies for you lovely people:**

**Guest:** hereitishereitishereitis! Anons are so cool :3

**RinRox:** Thanks! And, if I might ask, who is the Rin that rox in your penname? Okumura? Kagamine?

**Jeanette9a:** I swear that every Danny Phantom fan that likes anime got into it via Sayonara Pussycat. You know, Paulina's obsession? I didn't, though XD And thanks for your review! It was so nice :)

**NomNomInc:** OHMYGOODNESS YOU LIKE BLACK BUTLER/KUROSHITSUJI? I LOVE YOU! *cough* sorry. Well done on winning the universe, my friend, and, thanks :)

_**EXILE, Chapter 2: EXILE**_

Out with it, Fenton_, I forced myself mentally._

_"You see…" I began._

_"Yes?" my parents looked at me expectantly._

_"I'm…I'm…"_

_"Just get on with it Danny," Jazz whispered to me. "Remember, they__love__you."_

_I swallowed nervously, "I'm Danny Phantom."_

Mum frowned, lifting her goggles off her eyes and onto her forehead as she did so. She set the weapon she was holding back down on the lab table and turned to face me properly. "Danny… I'm afraid I don't understand, sweetie. What do you mean you're Phantom?"

"I'm Phantom. That's all there is to it," I reiterated, looking down at my feet for a few seconds. I didn't want to meet her eyes.

"But Danny, that isn't physically possible," she took a few hesitant steps forward – it was clear that she didn't know what to think. Dad remained silent and he was staring at me carefully, his expression oddly unreadable. I thought I saw his gloved fingers twitch towards something, but Mum was blocking my view of it as she came closer.

"Phantom is a ghost," she said, "Phantom is _dead._ And you are alive. You're my son, Danny. Stop making this up for attention, you're worrying your father."

Jazz stepped forward, "No! He really is Phantom!" She turned to me, gesturing her arms up and down towards me, trying to represent my rings, "Show them Danny."

"Um…Jazz…" I began.

"Just do it! They won't believe you if you don't!" she replied urgently.

"Don't do what?" Mum raised an eyebrow.

"Do this," I said, as I let myself transform. I didn't need a mirror to know that I was in my ghost form. I could tell from the constant cold that surrounded my body which had grown stronger, and my heart which had slowed to a stop. I didn't bother to make the extra effort to breathe anymore.

My mother's eyes widened and her mouth hung part way open in shock as she slowly reached out a hand and placed it slowly on my shoulder, flinching from the icy temperature. Her violet eyes gazed into my now neon green ones, clearly searching for something, _some_ kind of evidence of the blue they previously were.

"Danny…" she breathed, her voice small, low with a hint of fear, "is that… is that really…"

"Yeah, it's me, Mum," I forced a smile, trying to break away from her gaze.

"You're…You're Phantom," Dad was beside me now, "you're really Phantom."

Mum's face became distant, tears beginning to well up in her eyes and then fall without a sound. "I hurt my baby. I _hurt_ my baby. My baby boy… my baby boy is Phantom. Phantom's dead. He's dead." She released me from her grip and stumbled backward, staring into middle distance like I was no longer there.

Dad had become soundless again, gawking at me with a confused expression, blinking like it was all a dream.

My mother was still taking steps backward, except now she was slowly starting to shake her head, faster and faster and more intense each time.

"No," she said, her voice breaking, "you aren't Danny, you _can't _be Danny. It's impossible. My boy wouldn't… he wouldn't do things like Phantom does. He's not evil, I know he isn't."

"But Phantom isn't – I'm not evil, Mum. Yeah, there was that time with the mayor, but I was fr-"

"Phantom," she looked right at me, her voice was shaking as she tried to hold it together, "leave my son, _now_. Get out of him."

"Mads is right," suddenly a gun was visible in Dad's hand – was that what he was reaching for earlier? "we'll give you a chance to leave Phantom, to get out of our son before we suck you up with the Fenton Weasel!"

"What?" I stepped back, distancing myself from them as they were doing to me, "Mum, I'm telling the truth, I _really am Danny._"

Jazz now finally decided to say something, and she jumped in front of me quickly, waving her arms, "Phantom really is Danny! Mum, Dad – what are you thinking? Don't you recognise your own son?"

"That's not our son, he looks nothing like our son," Mum grabbed a gun also before she carried on, "my baby boy's eyes don't glow in the dark. It's impossible. There's no such thing as someone that can be dead and alive at the same time."

Dad spoke next taking a step closer to me as he narrowed his eyes., "so this was your pathetic plan, ghost punk. Hiding inside our son, thinking that you could pose as him. Disgusting.

"But I didn't-" I tried to say, raising my gloved hands as a sign of submission.

"Now get out of my house before I change my mind and rip you apart," suddenly Mum was beside on my left, her voice cold and hard as she spoke into my ear.

I heard the familiar sounds of guns powering up and my eyes widened. She was really, _honestly_, threatening me. I stepped back and turned to Jazz. Her face was a mix of everything, hurt, sympathy, confusion. Guilt.

I swallowed the bile that was rising up in my throat and flew upwards, phasing though the ceiling and into my room. If I was going to leave, I needed a few things.

Glancing around, I rapidly grabbed my phone and iPod, stuffing them into the bottom of an empty backpack. I packed some basic supplies like clothes and food that I found still wrapped up under my bed afterwards, stopping when I heard footsteps rushing up the stairs. My parents would be here any second. If they found me still here… well, I didn't really want to find out what would happen.

To overwhelmed to think anything, I flew through my window and took to the sky, the only thing my brain focusing on was where I needed to go next.

_Just take this one step at a time, Fenton, _I told myself, trying to sort out my priorities.

Closing my eyes for a second, I cleared my mind. First priority: somewhere to sleep.

I couldn't really stay with anyone I knew well - because their houses would be the first place my parents would look for me. With a quick scan of the landscape below me, I landed on the branch of a tree in a park and took out my phone. Scrolling down, I frowned at the lack of contacts, Dad, Jazz, Mum, Nasty Burger Home Delivery, Sam, Tucker, Valerie.

Valerie.

She was the only person my parents didn't know. Well, they kind of did – I'm sure they'd heard of Axion Labs - but they don't know where she lived now: an old apartment on the east side of town.

Taking a deep breath even though I didn't need to and it kind of hurt, I selected the number and pressed the green dial button.

After five rings, she picked up, "Hello?"

"Valerie, hi. It's… um…Phantom," I decided to choose that identity despite the fact it was the one she hated. I knew that my parents would be looking for Danny _Fenton_ now, a human was much easier to find than a ghost.

"Phantom? How did you get my number?" Her voice was suddenly raised and I could picture her staring at the phone in disgust, being tempted to hang up, "and how does a ghost like you get your filthy hands on a phone anyway?"

I groaned inwardly, having known this would happen. "Long story, can I crash at your place? I kinda need a place to stay."

This time, pure, mocking laughter sounded on the other end of the line, "Phantom, _you_ want to stay at _my _apartment, even after I've tried a million times to destroy you? Wow, you must be completely out of options. And I've never heard of a ghost slee-"

"Valerie! Can you _please_ just listen to me! I don't care that you hate me or whatever. I don't particularly want to stay in your apartment – I am just so completely out of options right now. _Please_?"

"How did you know my house was an apartment?"

"_Valerie_! Can we talk about this later?"

There was silence for a while and I heard a sigh from the other end of the line. Then more silence and, after that, shuffling.

"Look, I can call back…" I offered weakly.

"Fine Phantom, you can stay. But if you even do _one tiny thing_ that I consider threatening, you'll wake up one morning, very confused at the bottom of the ocean, get it?"

"OK, OK, fair enough. I get it. And Valerie?"

"What?"

"Thanks." I hung up before she could say anything else.

I took the long way around town to try and steer clear of my parents (who were most certainly trying to follow me or pick me up on radar), so it took me a painfully long ten minutes to fly to Valerie's apartment.

Seeing the light was off, I knocked softly on the dirty window and patiently waited for a reply.

She opened it up just a little so she could speak, and I saw her narrow her eyes when she saw me through the glass, "I've said this before and I'll say it again," she whispered harshly, "I've got my eye on you Phantom. Just make sure my dad doesn't see you - he'd flip if he found out a ghost was staying at his place."

"Don't worry about it, it'll be like I'm not even here," I promised her with a cheeky crooked grin as I crawled in through the window and sat down on the sofa. "Is it OK if I sleep on here?"

"Yeah, sure. Whatever. Just stay out of my way," Valerie left the room without another word. I heard the sound of a lock behind her and suddenly I heard a hum of a ghost shield through the walls. She must have set one up before I came to make sure I didn't have a surprise attack planned for the night.

But, then again, she might herself.

Closing my eyes, I tried to focus on something else, distract myself from everything before it all got too much. I reached for my bag and pulled out my iPod, switching it on shuffle and jamming in in my ears, hoping that that would be a help.

When she was sure Phantom and was sleeping (or as close to sleeping as ghosts could get), Valerie carefully stuck her head through the living room door and then crept quietly into the living room where he was resting.

One of the ghost boy's arms was across his stomach, the other strewn off the sofa. Both his gloves and boots were still on and the girl wondered why he didn't take them off. Were they actual apart of his from, his skin? She was slightly curious. Maybe tomorrow when she had decided to ask him questions she would try to pull them off and see what was underneath. His mouth hung open slightly as if he was snoring, but no breath came from him. His pale white glow was the only light in the room apart from the stars and moon outside, casting eerie shadows on the walls.

Valerie scowled at his 'innocent' appearance. This was supposed to be one of the most powerful ghosts in the Ghost Zone!

As she stepped closer, she noticed a half-open rucksack. She'd seen him bring it in, but before that she couldn't recall Phantom ever wearing it. But strangely enough, she'd noticed the purple bag somewhere before.

There were clothes, packets of crisps and a half-eaten sandwich inside. Not exactly much of an arsenal. She picked it up, going through the pockets. There wasn't anything else in there, so she shrugged and put it down again, trying to make as little noise as possible so she wouldn't 'wake him up'. She smirked. He was probably awake now, observing her through squinted eyes.

Suddenly she became aware of an almost soundless constant beat coming from Phantom and she looked to see wires trailing out of his ears, connected to an iPod that was in his hand. She hadn't noticed it before, and it was currently making her very curious. What kind of music did a ghost listen to.

Gently, she pulled it out of his hand pressed the 'lock button'. The screen flashed to life and a lock screen came up, displaying a photo of a rocket.

A rocket?

She lid the bar at the bottom across, surprised when no passcode came up. It let her straight in.

The wallpaper was the main concern though, and she did a double take when she saw it.

It was a pale black haired girl in a tank top, her left arm slung around a dark-skinned bespectacled boy in a red beret. On her right, Danny Fenton, with a hastily doodled label around his face, probably not drawn by him, that said in red 'me!'.

She blinked, not moving.

Why did Phantom have Fenton's iPod?

**Danny: Ah! Cliffy! How terrible!**

**Me: Well, *takes deep breath* that was my second update of the day. *shudders* so much wrting… pirates….ghosts…. fics…..**

**Danny: Well, we hope you enjoyed it, guys! **

**Me: Review and we'll see you next time!**

**Danny: Bye!**


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